Topinka has new reason to dance

Indicted adviser could hurt governor

October 13, 2006|By John Chase and David Mendell, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune reporters Rick Pearson and Ray Long contributed to this report

Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka tried to gain ground Thursday following the indictment of one of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's top political advisers while his campaign aides tried to assess the damage.

The incumbent Democrat released a new television commercial that will begin airing next week in which he speaks directly to the camera and explains policy differences between his administration and that of President Bush, including his positions on increasing the minimum wage and funding controversial stem-cell research.

The indictment of top Blagojevich adviser Antoin "Tony" Rezko was damaging to a campaign that has relied on trying to tie Topinka to the scandal-scarred tenure of former GOP Gov. George Ryan. But Democratic advisers close to the campaign said they were somewhat relieved the indictment did not directly name or implicate Blagojevich.

"You wish it was better, but you know what the playing field is and it doesn't implicate the governor," said a Democrat close to the campaign.

Topinka, trailing in public opinion polls with less than a month before the Nov. 7 election, attempted to use the indictment to distinguish her as a clear alternative to yet another ethically challenged governor.

"You have a very definite choice here. Again, it doesn't have to be this way," Topinka, the three-term state treasurer and former state legislator, said during a news conference in Springfield. "Look at how we've run our office. Look at what my Senate office was like. Look at what my House office was like. Good, clean government."

Rezko, a chief fundraiser and friend of the governor, was accused Wednesday of scheming to use his vast political influence to extort millions from firms seeking business with the state.

In an indictment unsealed Wednesday, federal prosecutors alleged Rezko used his relationships with key Blagojevich aides to get businessman Stuart Levine reappointed to two state boards so Rezko and Levine could share kickbacks from private companies. The indictment alleges the two also sought to force donations to the governor's campaign fund.

Topinka's efforts to turn the tables on Blagojevich come after months of being hammered in Blagojevich campaign ads linking her to Ryan, convicted earlier this year on corruption charges. Blagojevich campaign aides said a recent commercial featuring Topinka with Ryan at the Illinois State Fair soon will be replaced with the new ad, which doesn't name Topinka, Ryan or Bush.

Still, the Blagojevich campaign insider said that another commercial showing Topinka dancing the polka with Ryan is "in the can" and ready to be rolled out if they feel it's necessary. One of Topinka's GOP primary opponents ran a similar ad showing news footage from years earlier of Topinka dancing with Ryan.

Indictment ends uncertainty

The prospect of Rezko's indictment has hung over the Blagojevich campaign for months, and Topinka has often made veiled references to it, as well as the court dates for Levine that are scheduled just days before the election.

Blagojevich campaign insiders expected the indictment would involve Rezko's extensive private-business dealings rather than his activities with state government. Noting Levine faces sentencing only days before the election, the Democratic campaign insider said the federal indictment ends uncertainty over what Rezko would be charged with and outlines the playing field for Levine's plea agreement.

"I hope when the dust settles and people see what is really happening here, they'll understand that this has nothing, virtually nothing, to do with the governor," said state Sen. Carol Ronen (D-Chicago), a longtime adviser to the governor. "There's no implication that the governor is part of any of this or any of this had to do with anything but a couple guys, maybe a handful of guys, trying to line their pockets."

Treasurer's tough road

But even as Topinka tried to capitalize on the new allegations, she was forced to answer questions about her ties to a figure in Rezko's indictment. She said Thursday that for 10 years she hasn't spoken to Springfield powerbroker William Cellini, who is alleged to have played a role as an intermediary in one of the Rezko-Levine schemes, sources have said.

In her first term as treasurer, Topinka cut a deal on two aged state loans to hotels that let Cellini pay $10 million to settle a $40.3 million debt. She later opposed the still-unsettled deal.

Topinka blamed her position in the polls on Blagojevich's commercials and sought to show that much of the money his campaign fund raised to pay for those ads came from the likes of Rezko.

"We've seen a governor who's had, what, $50 million?" she asked. "... I think the money itself becomes a question of where it came from."

Topinka aides said it was still unclear how the Rezko indictment is resonating with voters and if it would be used in paid television commercials against Blagojevich. It's also unclear whether Topinka has the political cash to keep up with Blagojevich's aggressive television campaign.

Glenn Hodas, who was deputy campaign manger for Republican Jim Ryan's run for governor against Blagojevich in 2002, said it will be difficult for Topinka.

"She needs to say I am a clear and different alternative. And that's the challenge," Hodas said.